


Bad Parenting

by SnappleNinja



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Bad Parenting, Daddy Issues, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Family Drama, Parenthood, Phone Calls & Telephones, Post-Divorce, Season 11 hasn't happened yet, Teen Angst, Teenage Drama, They're both bad parents, just talking about how bad they are at parenting, post-March of the Oni
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 21:49:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19839181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnappleNinja/pseuds/SnappleNinja
Summary: (Post-March of the Oni)Misako and Garmadon are horrible parents, and they don't need to hear it from anyone else to know the truth.  With the Oni now defeated and the light returned to Ninjago, Misako finally manages to get her ex-husband on the phone to discuss their less-than-desirable family situation.





	Bad Parenting

_“Why is being a father so difficult?”_

“I’ve been wondering the same thing sometimes, Garm,” Misako shook her head dismissively, rolling her shoulder to press her cell phone closer to her ear as she conversed with her ex-husband.

_“I just…all the emotions and everything…why is it all **necessary**?”_

Misako had to keep herself from laughing over the phone. “He _is_ a teenager, Garmadon, and he has one of the roughest lives a kid his age has to go through. And I’m not even talking about his role as the Green Ninja.”

_“You’re talking about our family.”_

“It’s his family just as much as ours, Garm, and he’s spent a good deal of his childhood without either of us being a part of it.” Misako felt that sting in her heart that she often did when thinking about her son’s wasted childhood. “I can’t be too mad at you, though, since I was hardly there for him as much as you were. At least, not for a good amount of years.”

_“It seems we both screwed up on this whole ‘parenting’ thing, huh?”_

“You could definitely say that, yes,” Misako sighed, staring out the window of the _Bounty_ while the rain poured down the glass from the outside. “With the Oni gone and some kind of peace restored, Lloyd could have used you in his life more than ever right now.”

_“I tried that, he didn’t seem to adjust to it very well.”_

“Probably because every conversation turned into you two yelling at each other!” Misako nearly shouted, realizing that the same applied to their conversations most of the time as well. “The least you could do is be here for him. He’s still training to be a great Sensei like Wu. You could teach him as well.”

_“I doubt that. All I’ve taught him is suffering, disappointment, and pain. While I may regret it now, there’s no way of taking that all back.”_

“You could have if you _tried_!” Misako felt exasperated, sitting down in a wooden chair at the dining room table as she rested her face in her hand. “I think both of you are growing hatreds in your hearts for each other, and the only way you can stop it from going too far is by talking to him.”

Garmadon’s long sigh could very audibly be heard over the other end of the line. _“I’m sorry, Misako, but I can’t come home now.”_

“Why? Where are you now?” Misako asked, realizing that it was a question she had wanted to ask this whole conversation.

_“I can’t answer that question.”_

“Garmadon, you do _not_ keep secrets from me!”

_“Yes, I do. Obviously.”_

“Obviously,” Misako repeated, more so to herself, trying to shrug it off even though the comment truly caused her heart to ache.

After a long period of silence, which seemed to be something the broken couple involved in their conversations often, Garmadon sighed again and spoke. _“I’m sorry, Misako, I really am. Lloyd is a good boy, and becoming a fine young man, even if the evil in my veins often draws us to opposite sides. But I can’t be a part of his life right now. There is…”_ Garmadon trailed off, audibly sniffing or coughing into his arm – Misako couldn’t determine which one it was. _“There is a lot about myself I have yet to discover. I hardly recognized myself in a **photo** , Misako!”_

Misako finally nodded, even though he obviously wouldn’t see it. “I understand. Just…come back to us when you’re well again, okay?”

_“I cannot promise that I will return, but I will…attempt to.”_

“Garmadon…” Misako rolled her eyes.

_“Yes?”_

Misako thought for a moment. 

“…”

“I love you.”

The silence on the other end of the phone was horrifiying. Finally, Garmadon’s deep voice returned through the line.

_“I…care about you too.”_

“Close enough, Garm.”

Suddenly a quiet beeping sounded from the other end of the line, and Misako realized Garmadon had ended the call. She stared down at her phone screen for what seemed like hours, gazing at the picture she had saved under Garmadon’s contact many years before. 

_Sensei_ Garmadon, dressed in a beautiful gray, black, and green robes smiled kindly at the camera, his eyes full of life and joy as his son stuck his tongue out as a photobomb in the background.

Tears threatened to fall as Misako thought back to those better days, but she managed to hold them back. She had learned to do so long ago. 


End file.
